Phone Link "Messages" shows phone numbers, not names and photos

Anonymous
2022-10-06T15:35:52+00:00

I use Phone Link on my Windows 11 PC to text message through my Samsung S22+ phone. I use the desktop Outlook client on my PC and have my Outlook contacts synchronize with the Samsung Contacts app on my phone. A couple of months ago, I began to notice that the names and photos of some of the people with whom I text were no longer showing up in the Phone Link "Messages" list; just their phone numbers. Also, when I clicked "+ New message" in Phone Link, and typed their name, they never showed up in the list of matching contacts from which to choose. This was very frustrating, especially since those contacts were the ones with whom I text most often.

I tried just about everything I could think of - uninstall/reinstalling Phone Link on the S22+ and my PC, multiple syncing options, etc., all to no avail. Then I noticed that the format of the number that showed up in Phone Link was different than what I had in my Outlook contacts. The numbers in Phone Link all showed up with a leading "+1" and had a dash after the area code without parentheses, like this: "+1 123-555-1212" but the numbers in Outlook Contacts showed up like this "(123) 555-1212". I thought the issue might be a database lookup problem, so I tried to enter the same number format in Outlook that appears in Phone Link: "+1 123-555-1212". But Outlook would NOT let me enter this format! It automatically put parentheses around the area code and removed the first hyphen, like this: "+1 (123) 555-1212".

When the new contacts manager for Outlook.com (Outlook on the web) was launched a short while ago, I used the Contacts editor on those contacts and WAS SUCCESSFUL in entering the phone number in the exact format that appears in Phone Link: "+1 123-555-1212". When I sync'd my contacts to my phone, PRESTO! The names and photos of those contacts reappeared in Phone Link "Messages"! So, if you are having problems seeing a phone number instead of names and photos in the Phone Link "Messages" app, try this!

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Connect Phone and PC

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  1. Anonymous
    2022-12-19T00:59:59+00:00

    My experience has been very similar to yours. I never had this problem until 3-4 months ago. It started happening after an app update. I have seen other posts on the web that describe the same problem. I was looking for a solution just like you and saw others were having the same issue! I have about 1000+ contacts but only a few dozen that I text with regularly. So like you I decided it would probably be worth it to update those contacts to be "readable"by Phone Link. Maybe if enough people raise the issue, they will decide to fix it. Not holding my breath!

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-12-18T21:55:34+00:00

    Open the Contacts app on your phone. Find and display a contact that only displays a phone number in Phone Link Messages. Create a new phone number for that contact in the app and make sure the format of the number exactly matches what you see in Phone Link Messages. I usually do this by creating a new phone number in the"Other" category. Once you save the contact, Phone Link should be able to identify and display the name that goes with the number.

    This appears to be a bug in the algorithm that Microsoft uses to associate a name with a number using the info in your Phone's Contacts app. But there doesn't seem to be much interest in fixing it.

    The workaround that I am using is a PITA ... But it does work for me.

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-12-18T21:35:31+00:00

    Thank you, however I've had phone link installed and companion prior to that. This issue started manifesting itself recently and I have no idea why. It does show a few names, but most are only numbers on the PC. On my android phone, everything shows.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-12-19T21:37:42+00:00

    Just an FYI update. Most of the ones I converted per your suggestion, have reverted back to #'s only and not searchable by name.

    Thanks anyway

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-12-18T22:35:42+00:00

    PITA is an understatement. I have 2500+ contacts. Of course most don’t text me, but I guess I can do this for the ones I frequently search. Crazy that this is the only resolution. I’m curious if this just happened to you as well? I’ve not had a problem until very recently.  Thank you very much for your response.

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